Child in the Temple
by Glaceon Mage
Summary: [OoT/MM/TP] Link passes through the gate to the past, only to find a small child.


**Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda. Obviously.**

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 **Child in the Temple**

The overgrown sacred forests shaded the young Hero of Twilight, bounding through on all fours in search of the next shard of the Mirror of Twilight. The sages had said one had been sent to an ancient grove, a description that only fit one place in Hyrule of which he knew. He didn't want to look in the heavens yet, mainly because he had no idea how to get there.

Midna was presently riding upon his back (he assumed it was her way of showing who exactly was in charge of who), yelping every time he dashed, waiting for him to reach the heart of the forest. According to her, the shard would probably be there, even though it had been Link's idea to check the Sacred Grove in the first place.

He approached the Master Sword's former resting place, not sparing it a glance at first. After shooting Midna his usual "turn me back" look, he turned his attention back to his surroundings.

If he wasn't mistaken, this would be the only remaining place for the shard of the Mirror could be. He'd already managed to scour the remainder of the Sacred Grove chasing the little imp who had attacked him (for a second time). The only remaining places he could look would be beyond cliffs which he had no ability to scale. He'd been raised herding goats and riding horses, so he had a good grip, but no experience with rock-climbing or gear necessary for scaling vertical surfaces.

He glanced back at the stone pedestal of the Master Sword, pondering if it held the way to the shard. After all, it was the only noteworthy thing in the ruin anymore. The rest of whatever used to be here had long since failed the test of time. All that stood now was unidentifiable stone floors and crumbling remains of ancient walls, whatever may have been etched upon them, if anything, was too eroded to read.

Midna floated up and propped her elbow on his shoulder. "It's around here. I can tell that this is definitely the right place. Get looking, little wolf." She smirked. "I don't care how you get it." Into his shadow she went, prompting a sigh from the teen. Clearly, she had no ideas how to move forward at all then.

He focused his attention on the Master Sword's pedestal again, willing it to give him a clue. Minutes passed, before he saw a near-translucent sixteen-year-old approach the pedestal, before thrusting his ghostly sword in. Link blinked. "That was new," he muttered. "I wonder if that was…" The green-clad teenager approached the carved stone. Mimicking the illusion (or was it a ghost? The Ordonian was unsure), he thrust his blade back into the worn, decaying marble.

He heard the thrum of magic behind him, turning as he pulled the blade back out. One of the standing walls had begun glowing with a radiant white light, prompting him to scramble over to investigate it. In the wall's new, restored state, Link noticed something he previously hadn't, the wall was actually the door of the ancient building that once stood around the Master Sword.

Cautiously, he pushed open the door, gasping as he saw that the other side did not contain the old forest he knew, but rather a splendid interior space. Stepping through, he took the moment to look around…

Only to see a small child, he couldn't be older than nine or ten, standing and staring at the window in the back of the strange cathedral.

Link approached the boy quietly as he could, though his efforts quickly proved to be pointless as the boy heard and turned, broken from his initial trance.

"The Temple does not get many visitors. Are you looking for me?" The boy was strangely blunt with his words. "I don't know who you are, though. You dress like a Kokiri, but that cannot be correct. You're too old for that."

Link looked at the child blankly. He had no idea what Kokiri were, nor what life was like back when the Temple was standing. All he managed was a simple "I'm not looking for you."

The child kept looking at him. "Then would you mind sharing something with me? I'm looking for someone. She is a white fairy, she talks as if she is quoting an encyclopedia, and she calls herself Navi. Have you seen her?"

Now he's looking for a fairy, of all things? "I don't know any white fairies. I have some pink ones on hand, but none are named Navi." He made a point of asking every fairy he captured their name, as he felt keeping them in bottles and never asking or showing kindness would simply be equatable to holding a captive for no reason.

"I am not looking for healing fairies. I can find them everywhere. I must find Navi, only Navi will do. I do not know where she disappeared to." He paused for a minute. "She left me while I was in this Temple one day. I want to know why she did that."

He was still so blunt and unexpressive. Every word of his explanation was oddly monotone, as if they were things he was just telling himself despite not really thinking he had any hope of finding the fairy.

"I'll keep an eye out." Link wished he could say more to this little boy. He didn't know what this fairy did or who she was that made this child want to find her despite thinking he could not. "If I meet a white fairy like who you described, I'll try to find you. I can't promise that I'll be of help, though."

"Your offer is reassuring. I am leaving for the forest in the southeast soon, so we will not be able to meet for a time. Fairies live in the Forest, you know. I think she may have returned there." He smiled a little, though it seemed slightly forced. "I shall take my leave. Next time we meet, I hope it is in Navi's presence." With an odd level of calmness, he began on the way to the door, stopping just before he left. "If you find Navi, ask around the Castle Town or Kakariko Village for Link. I'd appreciate it…."

He was gone without another word.

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 **I hope everyone enjoyed that. This is my first one shot in a while.**

 **I really like the Link from OoT/MM, despite my opinion of OoT itself. I just want to give the poor kid a hug, he went through so much more terrible things than he ever deserved. No wonder the poor guy turned into some sort of Stalfos.**

 **Regarding the "Illusion" TP Link saw to tell him to do that strike thing, it's not really clear how he got the idea in universe. I mean, I wouldn't have figured it out easily without the button prompt thing. There's no real in-story indication of how that works or why.**

 **-Glace**


End file.
